A Texas congressman called on House leaders today to examine efforts by Social Security to crack down on people who collect disability checks but are no longer disabled.

"We need to do more to make sure those who are able to work are not gaming the money that is set aside for those who truly are disabled," U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady said in a written statement.

The Texas Republican, citing investigative stories published in The Sunday Oregonian last month, urged leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Social Security to hold a hearing on the billions wasted on people who no longer deserve benefits.

In a letter to Rep. John S. Tanner, D-Tenn., and Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas - leaders of the subcommittee on which he sits - Brady pointed out that The Oregonian found "an astonishing $11 billion is potentially being paid to individuals who are no longer disabled."

Three other Republicans on the panel also signed Brady's letter.

As part of an investigative series on the Social Security Administration's failing disability programs, the newspaper found that the agency stood behind in reviewing the medical conditions of 1.7 million Americans now collecting benefits.

Catching up on those reviews would net estimated savings of $10 billion to $11 billion in future benefits that would be paid to people who aren't disabled, Social Security's actuaries found in an analysis for The Oregonian.

The agency acknowledges that it has put far more resources into curbing its mounting backlog of disability claims than reviewing the disability status of those already receiving benefits.

"I understand that the agency's focus has been on eliminating the disability backlog," Brady wrote in his letter to Tanner and Johnson. "However, it is simply unacceptable that tens of thousands may be receiving benefits they no longer deserve and costing the taxpayers countless billions.

"As such, I urge you to schedule a hearing of the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee so that we can thoroughly examine the extent of this problem and determine ways of resolving it."